Chess Olympiad 2020
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Chess Olympiad
Day 3
India after the unfortunate draw against Mongolia due to Internet issues had to secure wins in all the remaining rounds to have the top position to qualify directly to the Quarter Finals.
On Day 3, the first round was against Georgia were the following players faced of between each other.
On Board 1 and 2
Viswanathan Anand VS Levan Pantsulaia.
Harikrishna Pentala VS Luka Paichadze.
On Board 3 and 4,
Harika Dronavalli VS Nino Batsiashvili.
Koneru Humpy VS Meri Arabidze.
On Board 5,
Praggnanandha R VS Nikolozi Kacharava.
On Board 6,
Divya Deshmukh VS Dianw Lomaia.
Results-
India beats Georgia by a margin of 4-2 where Harikrishna Pentala, Praggnanandha and Divya won their matches.
Viswanathan Sir and Humpy were able to draw a way and unfortunately Harika lost her encounter against Nino Batsiashvili.
Starting again from the topmost rated player for India, Viswanathan Anand Sir he offered to sacrifice the piece but at the end came to an equalish position he could have continued but later settling for a draw.
On our next board was the end game master of India, Harikrishna Pentala, which was seemingly doubtful for a draw but his endgame tactics made opponent blunder with his precise moves he had a win for Team India.
On board 3, Harika really had a dominant position until he played a4 which gave her opponent to retaliate and she couldn't had a come back. Though she lost the match but she won our hearts by her sheer to fight till the end.
Humpy seemingly had an equalish game which ended in a draw.
The U20 players of India is the real gems we possess, Praggnanandha having a very dominant position and winning the game for Team India.
On board 6, Divya was just Barbaric, her aggressive approach towards the opponent's King is beyond imagination. She is fearless of playing anyone and won a game after missing a chance to checkmate. Still the sheer dominance she has over the board is mesmerizing.
This Round was crucial for Team India as this confirmed India's position in top 3 on the table.
The next round was with Germany who were sitting at the 3rd position and a win would secure India the 2nd place on the table.
The Matches for the round were,
On Board 1 and 2,
Vidit Santosh Gujrathi VS Rasmus Svane.
Harikrishna Pentala VS Matthais Bluebaum.
On Board 3 and 4,
Harika Dronavalli VS Lara Schulze.
Bhakti Kulkarni VS Filiz Osmanodja.
On Board 5,
Nihal Sarin VS Roven Vogel.
On Board 6,
Vantika Agarwal VS Jana Schneider.
Results-
India beats Germany by a margin of 4.5-1.5.
The captain leading from the front on Board 1. He was a pawn up but had to face a harsh attack by his opponent which he comfortably defend ultimately pushing his opponent back leading to a blunder which secured a win for Vidit.
On Board 2, Harikrishna again had the close encounter in the opening though during midgame he felt apart but the endgame master excelled and managed to sneak out a draw.
On Board 3, Harika was facing Lara and both them are quite familiar with each other game resulting in a balanced game which ended in a draw.
On board 4, Bhakti had not an ideal start at the opening plase of the game but she slowly converted it very well by positional maneuvering and in the late end game was a piece up which she easily converted into a win.
On board 5, our Master Trickster seemingly sacrificed the queen for a Rook, Bishop and Pawn but the positional advantage he ended up was merely sufficient for a win but due to time trouble he settled for a draw.
On Board 6, Vantika replaced Divya but the result remained the same, the girl power clutching. Her opening was solid and the head start she got, it was no doubt she converted it into a win.
Thereby winning the game secured India the 2nd place on their group and India was to face their toughest till now. China was leading the board after India drew against Mongolia. This meant that if India directly wants to Qualify for Quarter Finals they wll have to beat China. China the current favourite is the second in the ranking just after Russia.
So beating them would be a great morale for Team India.
The matches for the Round 3, Day 3 are,
On Board 1 and 2,
Vidit Santosh Gujrathi VS Ding Liren.
Harikrishna Pentala VS Yu Yangyi.
On Board 3 and 4,
Koneru Humpy VS Hou Yifan.
Harika Dronavalli VS Ju Wenjun.
On Board 5,
Praggnanandha R VS Yan Liu
On Board 6,
Divya Deshmukh VS Zhu Jiner.
Results-
India beats China by a margin of 4-2.
What a roller coaster of emotions, India securing a win against China to qualify for Quarter Finals.
The plans which was made by Team India was perfect on the paper to draw game on Board 1 to 4 and let the youngsters show their talent. But indeed it was difficult to execute in likes of players such as Ding Liren the World's 3 Highest Rated Player, Yu Yangyi known as Master of Tactics, Hou Yifan the World Number One Female Chess Player and Ju Wenjun the World Champions, the task seemed quite difficult but India managed to stay calm and focused and managed to draw all four games.
Especially Harikrishna and Harika played all 3 games at a span of 2.30 hours.
Both the wins for India came in the U20 section by Praggnanandha and Divya.
A treat to watch them play and both had an amazing record as Praggnanandha remains Undefeated winning all the 5 matches he played and Divya only losing one at Day 1 after which she has retaliated with 4 wins.
It's an emotional moment as our players performed extraordinarily and they all are in the best form currently and we hope they showcase their talents like this and win the finals.
Wishing them All the Best to Team India for their future matches.
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